Longmont, Boulder home prices hit record highs in 2017

Mary Kramer meets with representatives from St. Vrain Realty and Land Title Guarantee Company on Friday afternoon in Longmont to close on a house she was buying. (Lewis Geyer / Staff Photographer)

Home prices by the numbers

Boulder County

Median single-family home sales price in 2017: $550,000

Increase over previous year: 7.3 percent

Boulder

Median price: $855,000

Increase: 1.2 percent

Longmont

Median price: $405,000

Increase: 11 percent

Broomfield County

Median price: $500,000

Increase: 11.1 percent

Source: Boulder Area Realtor Association

The local real estate market — riding what could be the crest of a half-decade wave of red-hot growth — continued to thrive last year and home prices soared to record highs in Boulder and Longmont.

For single-family homes in Longmont, the median sales price grew 11 percent to $405,000 between December 2016 and December 2017, according to data from the Boulder Area Realtor Association. Growth was more modest in Boulder — 1.2 percent — with median sales prices ending 2017 at $855,000.

Those median prices are up from December 2015 highs of $323,000 in Longmont and $750,000 in Boulder.

"It was an unbelievable year," Boulder Area Realtor Association President Kelly Moye said of 2017.

The Longmont housing market has been on an extended upswing with prices up 37.8 percent since 2014, according to Kyle Snyder with the Land Title Guarantee Company.

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Snyder, who works with the Longmont Association of Realtors to compile sales statistics reports, said that level of growth "is way higher than we have seen historically."

Nationwide, real estate professionals see a 6 percent annual price increase as the standard for healthy growth, he said.

In Longmont, it wasn't just single-family homes that saw sales price gains in 2017. Median prices for townhomes and condos have risen 4.8 percent since December 2016 to nearly $300,000, data shows.

"For many families, (townhomes and condos) became and still are a more economical purchase, getting more space for less money," Josh Hunter with Longmont's St. Vrain Realty said in an email. "One first time buyer in our office last year did exactly that, shopped for a single-family home for months, and in the end decided they got more of what they wanted in a townhouse. "

Single-family home prices in Boulder — which are the highest in the region and averaged a whopping $1,035,667 in December — climbed in 2017, but more slowly than in recent years.

"We have continued high demand and population growth, so we expect to continue to see prices increase although maybe not at such a frenzied place," said Grant Muller, owner of Boulder-based Spaces Real Estate.

While prices of single-family homes in Boulder increased last year, median condo and townhome prices actually shrank a bit over the same period.

"Boulder is historically incredibly popular and in high demand," she said. "So it appears the affordability issue is starting to kick in."

The sky-high prices in Boulder make the city a sellers market, Moye said.

Meanwhile, areas such as Longmont and Broomfield County — which saw median single-family home prices grow 11.1 percent in 2017 to $500,000 — present opportunities for buyers searching for more affordable housing options.

Even though sales prices in Longmont and Broomfield are growing faster, Moye said it's unlikely they will match Boulder's prices in the foreseeable future, she said.

"With Boulder, the strict limitations on building and expansion will keep prices really high," she said.

Looking ahead, Snyder said Longmont may also see slower growth in the coming year.

"I think we are coming to an end of double-digit (annual) price growth," he said.

But that might not necessarily be entirely bad news, Snyder said.

"If home prices keep growing at 12 percent a year and incomes don't grow at 12 percent a year, that could be an issue," he said.

Slower growth in prices could allow wages to catch up and improve affordability for buyers, Snyder said.

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